What Will They Do If Elected? Read The Platform!

Kentucky is considered a Republican State. The voters have overwhelmingly elected Republican candidates at the Federal level. To do this requires many in the lower half of the economic spectrum to vote Republican. Even though Republican economic policy mostly hurts the middle class and the poor, Republicans have managed to get the votes needed to come out on top. Democrats at the State level have control of the House and the Republicans control the Senate. The upcoming midterm elections have Republicans thinking they can take the House and are dreaming of the Governorship when the term of Governor Beshear is over.
Kentucky Republicans, in two articles in the September 3rd and 13th, 2014 editions of the Kentucky Enquirer, have released the Republican platform for the November elections. Republicans are calling it,’ Handshake with Kentucky’. I’m not sure who they are going to be shaking hands with, but the creators of the Kentucky Republican platform will not be shaking hands with me or anybody else at the lower end of Kentucky’s economy any time soon.
Republicans with this platform are doubling down on policies that benefit Kentucky’s wealthy at the expense of Kentucky’s poorest. Specifically they talk about repealing the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. This would shut down the KYNECT health insurance exchange and take health insurance away from roughly 500,000 of Kentucky’s citizens who now have health insurance as a result of the Affordable Care Act, (Obamacare). Republicans want a constitutional amendment that would, “prohibit any person, employer or healthcare provider from being compelled to participate in any healthcare system”. Not only do they not want the Federal Government to help you get Health Insurance, but they want it to have the force of law!
They announced they want to pass a so called, “right to work’ bill which has nothing to do with the right to work and everything to do with weakening the power of Unions to protect worker rights and wages. States (mostly red) with these kinds of laws have overall lower wages and benefits than States without them. Eliminating the Union eliminates protections for all workers not just Union members!
They want to create a board to review your malpractice claim before it can go forward. Never mind that a judge does this already, they want another level of scrutiny before you can sue for damage. I wonder if there will be patients or business types populating these review boards?
As always they want to cut taxes again. We just had a shortfall of the last budget so it is hard to imagine how cutting taxes will help matters. In Kansas with a Republican controlled Legislature and Republican Governor, they went tax cutting crazy and have caused panic because the State’s credit rating has been lowered 3 times by their actions. We do not need any financial shenanigans like that here.
Republicans will oppose any raise of the minimum wage here in Kentucky and at the Federal level. Since a raise in the minimum wage generally raises all wages over time, this little provision will hurt most of Kentucky’s working citizens.
Yep, the midterm elections are shaping up to be a referendum on which of our citizens will be represented in Frankfort and Washington. The wealthy, who have benefitted immensely from Republican economic policies to the detriment of the vast majority of our citizens, or the poor and middle class whose wages have been flat since Reagan was President? Will poor and middle class voters wake up and realize the power and value of their vote? Will they wake up and realize that there is not one economic policy in the Republican State Party platform that benefits anyone on the lower half of Kentucky’s economic ladder? We shall see in November.
The voters who are paying attention realize that in the end it always comes down to the money. Republicans in leadership recognize this and despite all the uproar about social issues, vote on their wallets. Kentucky’s poor and middle class should recognize this and do the same. Our wallets may not be as fat as that of the Republicans but our votes count just as much. Maybe it’s time our citizens on the lower end of the economic spectrum use the power of their vote to level the economic waters currently so out of balance.
Those of us who struggle every day to feed our families and make ends meet have the power to stop the inequality imposed and supported by Republican economic policies. Those who think it matters little how they vote need to awaken to the reality that, similar to Kentucky’s State motto, United we stand, divided we get ripped off!